A daily accumulation of history and present as I follow the 2011 year through the baseball season and reflect on the glories and disappointments of the greatest game on Earth.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mick Billmeyer

Ok, let's be honest... who cares about stealing signs? Really.It's not like it's a corked bat breaking and someone (Sammy Sosa) gets caught using it to get out of the deep slump he was in.It's not like betting on your own team.It's not like throwing your own team's games.In fact, it's really boring. When guys like Brian Roberts wear contacts lens with extra power in them to get that much closer to seeing the movement of the ball out of the pitcher's hand or simply use video to learn to recognize a pitcher's motion to get the jump on the ball coming their way, there is still the need to put the ball in play.It's not like a catcher gave opposing batters the pitches in advance during a meaningless series of All Star Game at bats to get back at the pitcher who tried to throw a broken bat at his head during an instance of roid rage.It's simply stealing signs.In Nascar, they say that if you're not cheating, you're not trying.In baseball, unless you're Gaylord Perry throwing a spitball or dirty handed Kenny Rogers, you better not be cheating and doing anything to tarnish the sport.So why get upset at the Phillies for stealing signs? It's not like the New York Giants didn't do it against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951 with Herman Frank and his telescope stealing signs off of the opposing catcher so that Bobby Thompson would be in a better position to smack the Shot Heard Round the World.Sure, they had binoculars going, but isn't that more stupid than anything? They did it in plane sight. Maybe that can take the edge off the rumors about the hidden cameras.All in all, baseball is what it is... a game of advantages.Why stress on anything more than that?